Granite Mountain Brewing to celebrate third anniversary

Granite Mountain Brewing to celebrate third anniversary: big changes to brewery and taproom in year three; production capacity to more than double in year four.

Year three brought many changes to Granite Mountain Brewing, a microbrewery based in Prescott. A shift in ownership now sees the husband and wife team of Audra Yamamoto and Damon Swafford reimagining the concept and direction of the business.

"We basically broke it all down and started from scratch: new brewer, hired a classically-trained chef and spruced up the taproom," Yamamoto said. "There are a lot of fun things we'd like to do."

Jerrad Smith, a local home brewer and educator at Yavapai College was asked to join the team in December. He brings his own approach to brewing which usually results in big, bold flavors. His first brew, the Practice Run Pale, ended up as a double pale clocking in at 7.4% ABV.

"His beers fit his personality ... big, full of life and all about quality," said Swafford.

In February, Chef Rich Davis was hired with the challenge of redesigning the menu offered at the taproom.

With limited resources (no deep fryer or open flame), he created a mouth-watering, beer-infused comfort food menu. He uses Arizona-raised beef and incorporates Jerrad's brews every chance he gets.

Davis has successfully crafted two pairing dinners and a number of smaller catered events.

Year four will focus on an increase in production. With two new 7 BBL (barrels) fermenters in transit, the brewery will more than double its current production capacity.

This beer will be available to local restaurants and bars as well as to Northern Arizona and Valley establishments. In addition, the brewery began its barrel-aging program in June with a hybrid imperial brown-porter.

Granite Mountain Brewing will be celebrating its third anniversary on Saturday, August 8 at 123 N. Cortez Street in downtown Prescott. Open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., drink specials and live local music will run all day with a special tapping of our anniversary ale. For a full list of events, go to their website: www.GraniteMountainBrewing.com.